My Priorities

Christchurch, my home town, is at a unique moment in its history.

We have an amazing opportunity to ensure Christchurch can reclaim its place as New Zealand's second largest city, the heart of Canterbury and a destination in its own right beyond the gateway it offers to the South Island. That city needs to reflect the diversity of the people who work, live and play here and it needs to be safe, smart and sustainable.

Christchurch has experienced unprecedented challenges and the city needs leadership that is equal to the demands of lifting our city out of disaster recovery and into an optimistic future as one of the most resilient and livable cities in the world.

I want to lead the city by listening to all voices. And I want you, the people of Christchurch, to feel connected to the decisions shaping your future. I want to hand over more powers to community boards so you are empowered to meaningfully determine what is right for your neighbourhood.

I want capable people to come to the table that have the expertise to come up with smart and innovative solutions that not only make this city work, but also provide a sustainable future for our communities and businesses.

You have the right to have a full, clear picture of what's going on and we will be open and honest about the financial realities of our city's recovery. We will provide a clear roadmap to how we will achieve our shared future vision so people have the confidence to live and invest here.

Reclaiming the city requires serious sets of skills. A huge part of that comes from trusted relationships and trust. Trust has to be earned and it is a two-way street. The scale of challenges we face means we need to work closely with central government to get key projects going but they need to have faith that we can get the job done. That means we need to work together. And that means sometimes we will need to push back. Ultimately, Christchurch is our city.

So let's build our city together and claim our future.

As your Mayor I will always strive to work hard , so we can together feel proud of our achievements and make this city a place our children and grandchildren will always want to call home.